(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to bio-fuel systems and, more specifically in one embodiment, to a bio-oil extraction system for extracting oil found within the cells of algae while simultaneously separating the oil, water and algae husk in one step for efficient processing into bio-oil by means of variable shock on shock interaction.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Bio-fuels are fuels that are derived from biological feedstock sources such as trees, corn, miscanthus and algae. These bio-fuels have been sought out as an alternative to fossil fuels to decrease dependence on fossil fuels, stabilize the price of oil, and reduce the carbon footprint from the use of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are primarily produced from hydrocarbons extracted from below the earth's surface. Much of this crude comes from foreign sources, which represents a security and price risk to the United States economy in general. Furthermore, military operations require a stable source of power when conducting overseas operations, particularly in remote or hostile areas.
Of the various types of feedstock, algae shows the greatest promise because it is sustainable in a majority of growing regions and can produce a nearly 100 fold yield per acre compared with other feedstock sources. However, this increased yield is costly in that only expensive filtering and thermal cracking means have been employed to extract the oil from the algae.
United States patent application 20110095225, published Apr. 28, 2011 to Eckelberry, et al., discloses methods, systems, and apparatuses for extracting non-polar lipids from microalgae using a lipid extraction device having an anode and a cathode that forms a channel, and defines a fluid flow path through which an aqueous slurry is passed. An electromotive force is applied across the channel at a gap distance in a range from 0.5 mm to 200 mm to cause the non-polar lipids to be released from the algae cells. The non-polar lipids can be extracted at a high throughput rate and with low concentrations of polar lipids such as phospholipids and chlorophyll.
One problem with this prior art is it requires a large amount of power to force an electrical current through the aqueous slurry, which is highly resistant due to the water present in the slurry.
Hielscher GmBh, a company out of Teltow, Germany, proposes using ultrasound to fracture various crops and extract the oil by means of bubble cavitation techniques.
However, the present invention simplifies oil extraction using lower power demand and flow through processing thereby reducing the cost of facility construction and operation. Accordingly, those of skill in the art will appreciate the present invention, which addresses the above discussed and other problems.